Eco Week Ahead

US Inflation Is Set to Back Fed Pause After Robust Jobs Data

  • Progress toward tamer price pressures has essentially stalled
  • Inflation will keep UK in market focus; China, German GDP due

The US consumer price index is seen rising 0.2% in December after four straight months of 0.3% increases.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Underlying US inflation probably cooled only a touch at the close of 2024 against a backdrop of a resilient job market and steadfast economy, supporting the Federal Reserve’s go-slow approach to further rate cuts.

The consumer price index excluding food and energy is seen rising 0.2% in December after four straight months of 0.3% increases, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The core CPI, a better snapshot of underlying inflation, is forecast to have risen 3.3% from a year earlier — matching readings from the prior three months.